The Sprout

Sunny Sunday afternoon at the Pavilion’s pop-up Café

The newsletter for North Hinksey & Botley

Issue 118 June 2017

The Sprout

Issue 118, June 2017

Contents

3 Letters to the Editor

5 Botley Patients Group

9 Thoughts on General Election

15 Guiding Round-up

19 First Botley Brownies

21 Second Botley Brownies

23 Recipe for June

25 Old Manor House Riding School

20 Flood Alleviation Scheme

31 Planning Applications

33 Police update

35 North Hinksey Allotments

37 Randoms

39 Local Organizations

From the Editor

The main event of interest to us all in June is the General Election on the

8th, and the Sprout is sponsoring a Q&A session with our main candidates

on 1st June in Ss P&P Church. It’s a bit early in the month for us, but was

the only possible date and time in our candidates’ busy schedules. We

have done our best to get the issue out slightly early so you have time to

see the notice, but if this has not trickled down to you, hopefully you will

have seen the posters in time to get your questions in. Martin Harris offers

some thoughts on the subject (p9). Other news is the potential closure of

the Old Manor Riding Stables, already struggling with the huge increase of

traffic in North Hinksey Lane and finally brought down as a consequence

of the Flood Alleviation Scheme which will affect local pasture. Our cover

photo shows the first pop-up café of the season. These will run ‘up the top’

every Sunday till August, and the one on 25th June will coincide with the

Sprout AGM, at the Pavilion at 3pm – your chance to come along and have

an input into our local magazine, while eating some of the delicious cakes!

We also have reports on Girlguiding (inc Brownies) from p.15 onwards, the

Botley Surgery Patients Group (plus details about what’s on offer for

under-fives at Botley Bridges) on p.5, and some Parish Council input on

the subject of Allotments (p35), not to mention a timely recipe for pickling

cauliflowers. It’s all here in the Sprout – happy reading!

Ag MacKeith

Letters to the Editor

Botley Health Walks

Both of us trained as Volunteer Health Walk Leaders and started Botley

Health Walks on the 9 September 2004, under the then Government’s

banner of “Look after your Heart”. These days it falls under the “Go

Active” remit. We still meet at Seacourt Hall every Wednesday at 9.30

am, wait no more than 5 minutes and then go for a walk, usually with

animated chatter so it does not seem like exercising at all. Also, since

the Sprout began our details have been published each month in the list

of Organizations. Not surprising though, as with four others we were co-

founders of the Sprout and key workers for many years.

So you can image our surprise to read the Note on Botley Health Walks

by Lyliane Doumechehall about the need for a pool of trained walk

leaders and offering training at Dean Court Community Centre on the 28

May. It was news to us as leaders of Botley Health Walks!

Lyliane probably has good intentions but she is not part of Botley Health

Walks and she did not discuss the contents of her article with us prior to

publication. So what is it all about – a takeover bid?

Roy & Briony Newport, Leaders, Botley Health Walks

[Lyliane has since realized her mistake, see page 7 – Ed.]

SPROUT AGM 2017

Sunday 25th June

3–4pm

The Pavilion, Louie Memorial Fields

Arnold’s Way

Everybody welcome, especially Sprout volunteers.

Please come and tell us how we are doing.

News from the Botley Patients Group

The merger of the Botley and Kennington practices continues to go

broadly to plan. At the meeting of Botley PPG on 3 May 2017 Caroline

Jones, Practice Manager, asked that her thanks to her deputy, Hazel

Quick, be put on the record for the amazing job that she did in merging

the IT systems of the two practices in April.

The Duty Doctor system is not entirely satisfactory. Occasionally patients

are having to travel from Botley to Kennington, or vice versa, to be seen.

Various options are being tried to make duty run smoothly. There are

currently two phone numbers, one for each surgery; these will be merged.

Section 106 money: The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) recently

submitted a bid, on behalf of the practice, to the Vale for Section 106

monies which have accumulated as a result of local developments and

which had been allocated for improved health provision. The practice

heard in early May that it has been awarded in the region of £90k, which

will kick-start improvements to the surgery. This is excellent news for the

practice, which is to be congratulated. I shall be reporting further on this

in future newsletters. You can email PPG on botleyppg@gmail.com

Harry Dickinson, Chair

Botley Bridges – a wonderful resource for new parents

I remember staggering into the Children's Centre for the first time when I

was eight and a half months pregnant, and collapsing onto one of their

sofas. My midwife had recommended the Bumps & Babies group as a

way of meeting other soon-to-be and recent mums for moral support and

friendship.

Initially I was pretty apprehensive about going along but one of the staff

bounded over to me, introduced herself in a cheery fashion and

immediately insisted on making me a cup of tea. It was wonderful! I

continued to go to the baby group until my baby arrived and then

afterwards until my baby was officially designated a toddler.

As well as meeting other mums I also went there for all my postnatal

appointments with the midwife and after that regularly to see the health

visitor as, and when, weigh-ins were required and for any other non-

medical queries. The early days of parenthood were quite overwhelming

and so having a place like the Children's Centre proved vital support. As

my son got older we moved on to Stay and Play sessions instead, which

was great preparation for preschool. Over the years I have also attended

weaning advice sessions, first aid courses and a parenting course, all of

which have proven invaluable in the journey of parenthood.

Unfortunately council funding was withdrawn from this wonderful

resource, potentially leaving a lot of new parents in limbo, but a charity

was established which took over in March of this year – called Botley

Bridges – which aims to continue as much of this fantastic work as

possible.

A group for toddlers called Movers, Shakers and Talkers started at the

end of April, and is running on Monday afternoons. Stay, Play and Learn

sessions take place on a Friday morning, and a Bumps & Babies group

runs in the afternoon. The health visitor is also available for a drop in

session at 1pm on Wednesdays and Saturdads, a sessions for dads/male

carers is being held on the first Saturday of every month.

All the groups have information about other services which people can

access for help like Domestic Abuse support, Talking Space and Mind

etc. Support and friendship from other new parents is also invaluable. It's

great to have an environment that is set apart from the more clinical

nature of a doctor’s surgery where you can receive fantastic support and

advice, and ask those little questions which do not require a visit to the

doctor. I cannot stress enough what a wonderful resource this is. Please

do continue to use it and to support its excellent work in any way you can.

Botley bridges has a Facebook page, or you can find further information

on: http://www.botleybridges.org/

Karen Nixon

This article represents the views of the Botley PPG which are not

necessarily those of the Medical Practice.

An apology

The name of "Botley Health Walks" was wrongly used in May’s Sprout to

describe the future walks to be organised by the Botley PPG, as there is

already a "Botley Health Walks" in our community, which takes place on

Wednesday mornings. We apologise for this oversight. A different name

for the future PPG walks will be decided at a later date.

Lyliane Doumèche

Hooray for another general election!

Sometimes I think it’s such a joy to be in a political constituency called

Oxford Gone West and Abingdon, although I may have misheard the

name from someone.

Like one of those great boxing bouts, we’ve got a re-match between the

blues and the yellows – Nicola Blackwood in one corner for the

Conservative Party (the reigning champion) and Layla Moran for the

Liberal Democrats in the other. Some others are also entering the ring

(Marie Tidball for Labour) although this time Larry Sanders, the brother

of American political heavy weight Bernie, won’t be there for the Greens.

You may think that this parish is a bit Liberal-Democratty as we’ve had

Janet Godden as our County Councillor for many years, now followed by

Judy Roberts. Or it might be personality over politics as they have both

been well known, well respected hard working individuals. However at

the last general election, the Conservatives increased their majority quite

considerably. Will this change if our voting decision is based on Brexit or

if we feel that Labour needs a new leader?

If I was the 1997 Tony Blair transported into 2017, I’d say the important

issue is “Transport, Transport,

Transport.” West Way cannot seem

to cope, especially at weekends,

and even during the week it holds

back traffic wanting to turn onto the

ring road. Whatever the reason for

the recent cyclist tragedy, safety on

roads and pavements needs to be

improved. Who will do something

about the polluting A34? How much

are our lives at risk from this?

Once again the NHS becomes a

political football. Here’s hoping all

parties can work together on this. I

doubt if any political party will ever

bother to control house price

inflation which has made owning a

home more and more unaffordable

to the younger generation.

Whatever your view, whether you vote tactically or just for your favourite

colour, I hope that you do vote. Democracy is something to be treasured.

And whoever wins, whilst they might not be a famous war hero and

Colditz escapee like Airey Neave (our MP 1953–1979), I hope they play

their part both locally and in the House of Commons in uniting our great

country and great people.

Martin Harris (a “strong and stable” local, one of the “many not the few”)

[To help you make up your mind by giving you a chance to ask

some pertinent questions of the candidates, the Sprout is joining

Ss P&P Church in sponsoring a hustings here in Botley.

Candidates will be at the church on West Way on 1st June at 6pm

for a Q&A session chaired by Rev Graham Sykes. Submit your

questions in advance on the form which you can pick up in the

Library or download from botleyhinksey.org.uk, the community

website. Make sure your question is back in the library or submitted

online by 29th May at the latest to allow time to organize. See you

there! Ed.]

NORTH HINKSEY PARISH COUNCIL IS SEEKING A

Part-Time Caretaker for Louie Memorial Pavilion, Arnold’s Way

The current post holder will be retiring on the appointment of a new part-time

caretaker and the Parish Council is now looking to appoint his replacement.

The new appointee will be an employee of the Parish Council and will be

subject to any deductions that the HM Revenue and Customs require to be

made. The gross salary for the post will be £245 a month. The average monthly

hours of work over the year are 24 and this is what you will receive payment

on per month. Because the number of hours will fluctuate between summer

and winter, your monthly payment is based on average hours. The pavilion is

run by a management committee and the caretaker’s work will involve liaising

and working with them.

The main duties of the post include:

 Line marking of the football pitch (on average twice a month during the

football season).

 Visiting the Pavilion three times a week to check the building and

undertake any minor maintenance work, safety checks etc.

 Liaising with the Parish Clerk to arrange any statutory building checks e.g.

fire extinguishers, electrical certificates.

 Maintaining the main hall, kitchen, changing rooms and showers.

 Cleaning the MUGA and Children’s Shelter area to remove litter etc. and

the general maintenance of the Trim Trail equipment.

 Strimming various areas.

 Litter Picking in the ‘Lower’ playing field, children’s play area, the copse

main paths, the ‘Upper’ playing field, its play equipment areas and the

Children’s Shelter as needed. When walking both fields, looking out for

safety hazards.

 Once a week undertaking the required ROSPA safety checks, completing

the report form and returning to Parish Clerk. (Training will be given for

this.)

 Undertaking the specified weekly, monthly and annual maintenance

checks on the defibrillator cabinet.

 Cleaning out Lime Road Bus Shelter once a week.

 Other reasonable duties as requested by the Parish Council.

For further details, a job description and a list of full duties, please contact the

Parish Clerk on 01865 861992 or by e-mailing nhpcclerk@msn.com. The

closing date for application is Friday 16th June 2017.